Initially, PROGEP activities focused on carrying out studies, notably on the evolution of the coastal zone of Saint Louis, as well as on the development of decision-making tools to support the revision and extension of the Urban Master Plan (PDU). 

Following the regular flooding of the Langue de Barbarie, the World Bank, with the support of the government, launched the Saint-Louis Emergency Recovery and Resilience Project (SERRP), which provided for the construction of protection works and the implementation of emergency and temporary rehousing measures. 

Five adaptation scenarios were studied and budgeted to provide long-term solutions to the communities. It was decided to leave the breach open-ended and to relocate communities permanently to a neighbouring municipality, Gandon, in combination with temporary measures involving beach nourishment and the construction of a seawall. The managed retreat was therefore decided on for a strip 20 metres wide and 3.6 kilometres long, requiring the relocation of around 15,000 people.

As part of PROGEP, an inter-communal body was established as the Association des Collectivités Territoriales de Saint-Louis (ACT-SL). The aim of PROGEP’s support for the creation of an intercommunal structure was to : 

• Build integrated territorial dynamics capable of providing innovative and sustainable responses to the challenges of climate change; 
• Promote solidarity and cooperation between local authorities in defining and implementing structuring responses to shared challenges; 
• Coordinate and harmonise regional development, as well as to pool the resources of local and regional authorities, so as to build common-interest facilities that could not be paid for by a single authority.

The relocation beyond the municipal boundaries of Saint-Louis has further highlighted the need to work at the inter-municipal level. Indeed, Saint-Louis is a multi-dimensional territory, part city, part department and part region, where the coastal communities rely mainly on fishing for their livelihood. The commune of Gandon is characterised by its relative rurality and distance from the sea. Relocating people to this area requires a collective approach to the redevelopment of the economic and social network in order to facilitate the resettlement of communities. The local authorities of the Saint-Louis urban area have thus expressed their political will to join forces to pool their strengths in order to tackle common problems, in particular resilience to climate change.